Of Light and Shadow
by TheUnknownLegion
Summary: Natsu and Irene met one another after Natsu finished a job he was on. From there, an unlikely relationship was born as they both struggle to realize their love for one another. However, an ancient evil will soon appear on the world, and faraway nations must find Natsu and Irene if they are to stop it. Will they survive what's to come? Natsu x Irene. Crossover elements exists.
1. Chapter 1

**…I'm not a good author am I? I keep starting new stories when I have a dozen other ones to worry about. Okay, if we're going to get technical about it, this is a reboot of an old story, so not exactly a "new" one so to say... heh….**

 **Anyway, here we are the reboot of "Of Light and Shadow". I would like to think that I was the first guy who started the first Natsu x Irene story (Not counting harem stories); at least I think I was the first. Unless another one popped up before June 6, 2016, then feel free to point out how wrong I am.**

 **Now, there are going to be some differences compared to the original one. For example, I'm not going to make Natsu and Irene meet in the first chapter then have them confess to each other two chapters later, no, that's not going to fly here. We're going to take a more slow approach this time. While the other nations will show up like in the original eventually, that won't be for a LONG while. The focus for the most part is the relation between Natsu and Irene for now.**

 **Yes, Natsu still knows he's E.N.D and has his demon form and powers like in the original story, but there are differences. Unlike the original one, Irene doesn't find out like the way she did. Also, Natsu… isn't exactly proud of it or willing to show it like in the original story. In fact, I would say he's fearful of it. Imagine the E.N.D from my other story "Torn World", Natsu/E.N.D here used to be like that for the most part, so yeah, he's way more protective about that side of his and more afraid of it then he was in the original work.**

 **Okay, now that we got that out of the way; let's start the story shall we?**

 **Enjoy, or not, I don't care you all have your opinions. Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

 **Chapter One: First Meeting**

Outside a nearby town, a woman could be seemed landing on her two feet after the long flight she did to arrive here. She was a tall, voluptuous woman with thickly braided scarlet hair that was bow-adorned. Two front braids of her hair had two golden ornaments near the upper sections; and she also possesses two U-shaped earrings. She also was wearing red lipstick.

The woman, who was now walking into the town that she landed right outside of, wore attire that looked like a risqué version of a typical witch's garb. The black top she wore has a diamonds shaped opening, which showed off a bit of her breasts, and also has a heart-shaped pattern around the borders. This extends down to the navel of her stomach where it comes into contact with large angular scar, which is draped over by a dark-colored cape with a light-colored inside and two medallion gold-like ornaments. This is held together thanks to a golden chain. The red haired woman's neck was also covered, being decorated by other small cloth-based accessories, which included a wide bow. The woman also wore a elongated black loincloth that had the symbol of an unknown Empire emblazoned on the front. This also had white borders on its edges and was connected to another cloth piece with the very same heart-shaped design. Adding to her appearance were black thigh-high boots with heels that have a white-colored border near the top and also wore gloves of the same color and design, only this had claw-like extensions. To finish it all off, the woman also wore a black witch's hat, which was much larger than her head and possesses dreadlock designs with white bandaging near its ends. The hat also has a fur lining near its edges.

This woman was none other than Irene Belserion, the strongest woman of the Spriggan Twelves of the Alvarez Empire, a military force that covers most of the continent known as Alakitasia.

And she was on vacation.

No one said she could, but no one also didn't say she couldn't. Besides, Irene knew that her Emperor probably wouldn't care if he was present, as long as she returned when she was needed, then it was alright.

The red haired woman continued to walk around the town she had entered, trying to spot anything interesting for her to check out. If this town didn't have anything that suited her tastes, then she might as well try to head off for another town.

"Hmm… seems like this town doesn't have anything worth my time." Irene muttered to herself, but she didn't mind. With her magic and flight, it wouldn't take long for her to travel around the whole country if she needed too.

The woman then went to turn the corner of a building, still following her path. But then…

*BAM*

"*OOF*" Both her and another voice both let out a noise as she fell on the ground. Irene, who was relatively alright, it was just a fall after all, looked to see what she just collided with.

For some unknown reason, even her, her eyes widen a little as she saw who she collided with.

In front of her was a lean young man, who was also recovering from the fall, with pink spiky hair. He wore a sleeveless black, gold trimmed, waistcoat, which was opened thus allowing the woman to see his bare chest, as well as he wore a gold trimmed, black cloth around waist that goes down to his knees, which was held by a leather brown belt with a oval-shaped silver buckle. He also wore white knee-length trouser with black ribbon ties. The pink haired male has a thick black wristband that could be seen on his left wrist. On his feet he wore black opened-toed sandals. And finally, Irene could also see a white scale-pattern scarf around his neck.

Unknown to her, this was Natsu Dragneel, the Fire Dragon Slayer of the Fairy Tail guild. For some reason, Irene couldn't tear her eyes away from him as she simply remained on the ground with her eyes locked onto him.

"Ow… what just happened?" Natsu muttered to himself, as it appears that he was yet noticed the woman in front of him.

This changed though after he rubbed his head to get the small headache he got from the collision. He looked straight forward to see what he ran into, and that's when he saw the red head woman in front of them.

And like Irene, for some reason Natsu found himself frozen as he only stared back at her.

The two merely kept their staring at one another for only a minute before the two realized what they were doing with one another. They both shook their head before they both slowly got back on their feet.

"S-Sorry about that," Natsu started to say to her, trying to break the awkward silence they befell the both of them, "I wasn't watching where I was going." He finished saying with a sheepish grin on his face.

"N-No, it's fine. I wasn't watching where I was going either." Irene managed to reply back to him, _'Did I just stutter?'_ She thought to herself in confusion. But that ended as the pink haired male in front of her started to speak up once again.

"Uh… a-are you sure you're alright?" Natsu asked her in a little concern, _'Why am I stuttering?'_ He thought internally to himself, realizing his little trouble speaking to her for some reason.

"Yes, I'm alright. A little fall to the ground like that is nothing." Irene informed the male in front of her.

"O-Oh, that's good to hear." Natsu replied back with a smile, while internally cursing himself with the stutter he just allowed again.

It was an awkward silent for a moment, which was rather uncomfortable for both the red haired woman and the pink haired male. Luckily Irene decided to break the awkward atmosphere.

"May I ask your name?" Irene requested from him, even surprising herself by her words. Usually if she ran into someone, they would just apologize and move on with their lives, never to meet one another again.

Yet, for some reason, Irene couldn't find the will to do that in this case.

"Y-Yeah," Natsu spoke up with a smile, while wanting to slap himself for sounding like an idiot, "I'm Natsu, Natsu Dragneel. It's nice to meet you..." He introduced himself before he trailed off, realizing that he didn't even know her name. Thankfully for him, it seemed Irene caught on.

"Oh right, my apologizes, I am Irene Belserion, it's nice to meet your acquaintance Natsu." The older red head woman introduced herself properly to the Fire Dragon Slayer in front of her.

 _'Irene huh… what a beautiful name,'_ Natsu thought to himself, before he realized what he just thought of, _'Wait what? Where in the world did that come from?'_ He thought before he saw Irene waiting for a response, "So… are you from around here?" He asked her, trying to start a conversation with her.

This was weird, since Natsu didn't usually tend to just want to talk with people he would bump into in the street. But then again he never though of calling someone's name beautiful either. He bested to keep that last part to himself though.

Seeing him trying to start up dialogue, Irene simply smiled as she went on to answer him.

"No, I'm simply visiting to see if there's anything of interest," The red haired woman informed the pink haired male, before she asked her own question to him, "What about you? Are you from around here by chance?"

"Nah, I just finished up a job here that I was hired to do." Natsu informed. And he would like to add that the job was boring. It wasn't even a challenge.

"A job? So you're part of a guild then?" Irene asked with interested, though even she herself didn't know why she wanted to learn more about the Dragon Slayer in front of her. But yet she wasn't even trying to stop herself.

At her question, Natsu's face beamed with pride.

"Yup! I'm part of Fairy Tail, the number one strongest guild in all of Fiore!" Natsu answered her with a big smile on his face, as he pointed at the red Fairy Tail guild mark on his right shoulder, allowing Irene to see it.

 _'Fairy Tail? Weird, I feel like I heard of that name before.'_ Irene thought to herself, but decided to shake that off for the time being. She then went on to ask another question for the pink haired Fairy Tail Mage in front of her, "So you're part of a guild, which means you know magic."

"That's right. I use Fire Dragon Slaying Magic." Natsu told the woman in front of him with pride still present in his voice.

This though got Irene to be surprised by what she heard. He's a Dragon Slayer?

 _'There are other Dragon Slayers still out there in the world?'_ Irene thought, as she thought Acnologia got rid of all the other dragons and Dragon Slayers. Then again, there's a chance that the pink haired male in front of him may just have an implant dragon lacrima inside of him. After all, that's what that dramatic Spriggen member God Serena has for him to become a dragon slayer of different elements.

Before she could ask him if that's the case, Natsu once again spoke up, getting her attention.

"Hey Irene, you said that you were just looking around here right?" Natsu questioned her, getting her to nod in confirmation to his question, "Would you like me to show you around here? I know a good place to get food at here." He informed her, as he remembered passing it earlier before he went to take care of the dark guild that was causing problems for the town.

Irene was surprised by the suggestion, though a small frown appeared on her for a moment, knowing that she couldn't really taste anything, but quickly went away before Natsu picked up on it. No need to try to bring the whole thing down because of her problems. Also, the way he worded his words, a smirk couldn't help but appear on her face.

"Oh? Are you asking me on a date?" She teased him.

She got the reaction she wanted as a massive blush and a look of embarrassment appeared on Natsu's face, realizing that he sounded like he was asking her on a date.

"W-W-W-What?! T-T-That's not-! I-I-I mean-!" Natsu was now failing to find the rights words as steam could be seen coming off of his head. What was he thinking?! Now Irene's going to think he was some creep that asks random women he runs into out! He was not a pervert dang it!

Irene couldn't help but giggle loudly, getting Natsu to temporary stop his freak out. A much smaller blush form on his face, as he for some reason, found her laugh cute.

 _'Dang it! Stop that!'_ he thought to himself. What was up with him all of a sudden?

"Calm down Natsu, I was only having fun," Irene stated to him with her smile, before she went on before he could speak up, "But alright, I'll take your offer."

This got Natsu to be surprised.

"Really?" He asked her just to make sure he heard her correctly. Irene simply nodded to him with her smile, a beautiful smile might he like to add, still present on her face. Natsu couldn't stop his own smile from growing on his face, happy that the red head woman agreed, "That's great! Come on, it's not far from here."

With that Natsu motioned for her to follow him as he went on with a giant smile on his face. Irene, with small smile on her own face, followed suit. Who knows, this may end up being fun for the both of them.

 **There we go for the first chapter. So what did you all think? Good? Bad? Want me to jump off a cliff? Let me know.**

 **See you all next time, whenever that will be.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone, it is me again, coming at you with another chapter for you all to enjoy or despise with all of your hatred. It's up to you really.**

 **Enjoy, or not, I don't care you all have your opinions.**

 **Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

 **Chapter Two: The "Date"**

It didn't take long for both the red head woman and the pink haired young man to arrive at the place Natsu was talking about. It wasn't anything to special or crazy, so it wasn't like they needed nice clothing to go here. It wasn't anything too casual either, so it wasn't anything underwhelming. An in-between the fancy and casual the restaurant basically was.

"We're here!" Natsu told Irene happily with a smile. He didn't know why he felt so proud saying that to her, it wasn't like he was trying to impress her or anything.

Irene looked at the place, before finding it alright with her tastes. Granted, she knows that she would be unable to taste anything due to the accursed Dragon Seed inside of her, but she wasn't going to ruin the whole thing because she lacks taste buds.

"It looks alright." Irene told him, getting him to smile brightly once more, which for some reason got the woman to smile herself.

"I knew you would like it!" Natsu told her before he motioned for her to follow him into the building, "Now let's go. That food isn't going to eat itself!" He told her happily, before he got a puzzled look on his face," At least I don't think food can eat itself. That would be really freaky actually." He muttered as he thought about it.

Irene blinked in confusion at his words before she giggled once more, getting Natsu to snap out of his thoughts as he looked at the red haired woman in confusion.

"What? Did I say something weird?" He asked her, not getting that she was giggling at his thought process about food eating itself.

"No, you didn't. But hearing you say that in that manner was cute." Irene admitted with a smile on her face, as Natsu's own face was taken over by a large blush due to the compliment.

"C-C-C-Cute?!" Natsu semi-shouted as he was feeling really embarrassed once again from her teasing. Irene couldn't stop herself from laughing a little, which Natsu once again couldn't help but find it cute in itself, _'Stop that brain!'_

"You really easy to tease you know that?" Irene asked him, as he merely grumbled about it all with the blush still having a dominating hold on his face, which only got Irene to smile even more from seeing him act this way.

"…Let's just go in already." Natsu grumbled as he slowly made his way into the restaurant, with an amused Irene following suit right behind him.

Thankfully for them it didn't take long for them to get a table for the two of them. They managed to get a booth next to a window of the building. Not even a minute after they were seated, a waiter showed up to hand them their menus and asked them what drinks they want.

After that was done with as they waited for their drinks, the two looked over their menus… as a rather awkward silent filled the air between the two.

 _'What should I say?'_ Both Natsu and Irene thought to themselves, as they glanced at the other before quickly returned to look at their menus in hand.

Irene didn't understand why she was having difficult here. She was just teasing him easily not even a minute ago. She never had a problem or struggled with talking to anyone, not even with her Emperor, so why was she having difficulty now? Why was it so hard to talk to the guy in front of her? Was it because of the atmosphere of the restaurant they were in? Was it because she found the pink haired guy cute?

Natsu wasn't faring any better. He was one of the most opened people around; at least if you ask anyone about the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer, yet here he was struggling to talk to the older woman right across the booth. Why was it so hard? Was it because he found her beautiful and cute or something?

 _'There I go again! Why do I keep thinking that?'_ The Fire Dragon Slayer thought to himself. He never thought of things like this before, so why was he doing it now with Irene? If she would know what he was thinking, she would definitely be freaked the heck out.

But he couldn't keep this awkward silent the whole time. He had to say something or else this was going nowhere. And so the pink haired male took in a deep breath before he spoke with great confidence.

"U-Uh… so w-what do you think of the place?"

Or not.

 _'That was terrible!'_ Natsu belittled himself at how nervous he sounded. Great, now Irene was going to think he was a loser or something that never had a talk with people in his whole life!

Hearing him speak got Irene to snap out of her own thought, as she looked back at the pink haired male, who still looked embarrassed about all of this for reason she could understand, luckily.

"Well," She started to reply back, getting Natsu's full attention, "It looks really decent, so it's good. I wouldn't like it if it was unorganized or disgusting looking. I can't stand messy places." She informed the pink haired Fairy Tail Mage across from her.

"Oh, that's good then." Natsu told her with a smile, despite still feeling a bit nervous about the whole thing. Not wanting things to descend back to the awkward zone, Irene started to speak once again.

"Natsu, you said you were on a job here in this town. Do you usually do jobs on your own?" The red haired woman from Alvarez asked the Dragon Slayer.

"No, not really. I usually do jobs with my team, but they were all busy with their own thing." Natsu answered her.

Like he said, this was true. When Natsu left for his job, Erza was already on a job of her own. Lucy already had enough money for her rent for the month, so she didn't want to go on one with him. Wendy just came back from a job of her own, and Natsu figured that the blue haired Sky Dragon Slayer would just want to rest. Since Wendy was there, that meant Carla was there, and thus Happy wanted to stay and try to get Carla to fall for him with fish once more. And Natsu would rather punch himself repeatedly in the face then ask Gray for help willingly. He wasn't going to be that desperate about it.

"I see." Irene responded back to him, feeling more comfortable talking to him in this setting. Natsu was feeling the same thing, as the Fairy Tail Mage was getting more relaxed with talking to the red head woman in front of him.

And then, before they knew it, time went by as the awkwardness completely evaporated between the two of them. Their drinks came, and after ordering what they wanted, their meals came as well. Irene was at first confused though when she saw Natsu struggling to eat the meat he order with his silverware, like he never ate properly before in his whole life. However Irene didn't mind it though, as she made sure to voice her thought about him looking adorable acting like that, which did little to help his embarrassment.

The two then went on to talk one another during the whole time. Natsu told Irene more about himself and his guild, getting the older red head woman more interested about what she was hearing. Irene also told Natsu a bit about herself, though she didn't reveal much, as much of it was a bit too personal, not to mention that she doubt he would believe her if she told him that she was over four hundred years old, but he still seemed excited about what she did managed to share. The scarlet haired woman even told the pink haired male across from her about how she was from another continent, getting him to be both surprised and excited about that.

Eventually, their meals ended and thus they had to leave the restaurant. The two, now content with what they managed to get, were now back on the streets of the town they were both in.

"Man that was really good!" Natsu exclaimed happily to the woman next to him, glad that he managed to get his full from the building. Irene couldn't help but smile at seeing him all joyful and content. The pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer then turned to look at the red haired woman, "What about you? Did you think it was good too?" He asked her, getting her to look at the pink haired male.

"Yeah, it was nice." She told him. It wasn't a full lie, she was unable to really taste any of it due to her curse, but the time spent with the Fire Dragon Slayer was wonderful enough to make up for it.

This merely got Natsu to smile widely, glad that the woman enjoyed her time. Seeing him smile got the woman to smile herself as a faint blush appeared on her face. Luckily for her, Natsu didn't seem to notice it.

"So Irene," The pink haired Mage of Fairy Tail started to say, getting the red haired woman to look at him once more, "What are you going to do now?" He asked her, wondering what the red head planned on doing now that getting food was over with.

His question caught Irene off guard for a moment, before she went to ponder about it for a moment. He raised a good point, what was she going to do now? There didn't seem anything else to do in this town.

"I guess I will head onward to see what else I can find in Fiore." Irene informed the pink haired Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail. Her answer though got Natsu to feel a little sad.

"So you're going to leave then?" He asked her with a small smile, though it did had some sad undertones to it. Natsu really didn't want Irene to leave already, as he would like to hang out with her more. He didn't know why he wanted her to stay around with him, but all he knew was that he wanted Irene to stick around.

Irene managed to sense the sadness present in Natsu's voice and for some reason couldn't help but feel a little sad herself. She can't just stay in this town, but yet she didn't want to loose contact with him either.

However, an idea then appeared in her head.

"Natsu." Irene started to say; getting Natsu's full attention on her once more, wondering what she was going to say.

Imagine his confusion when Irene threw at him some kind of small device that fit in his hand. Natsu had no idea what this device was supposed to be, as he looked back at Irene completely puzzled.

"Uh… Irene, what is this?" He asked her, hoping that she would give him an answer. Luckily, she went on to do just that.

"That is a communicating Lacrima," Irene started to explain to him, "You can use that to keep in touch with me."

Hearing those words got any sadness from Irene leaving to evaporate as joy filled his being as he looked at her with big happy eyes.

"Really?!" Natsu asked her with excitement, before he realized how he sounded, before he tried to calm himself down, "I mean, really?" He asked once more, this time trying sound more relaxed and not as desperate.

Irene couldn't stop herself from giggling once more by how he was acting, which only got Natsu to blush from embarrassment.

"Yes, we can get in touch whenever you wish," Irene informed the pink haired male, as she turned around, "I'll see you around Natsu."

And before Natsu could say anything else, Irene used her magic to start flying right into the air, getting Natsu to be surprised by the sudden large amount of magic he felt from the woman. The shock went away though as a large smile took hold of his face once more.

"WE'LL MEET AGAIN IRENE! THIS I PROMISE!" Natsu shouted, hoping that the red head woman now flying in the air managed to hear him from the distance between them now.

Irene, high in the air, managed to hear his words. This got the red haired woman to smile softly to herself. And with that, the woman took off from the town and Natsu.

Natsu simply stayed there for another minute, seeing Irene flying off from sight, before he sighed. The pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer figured he might as well go ahead and head back to the guild. He turned around to walk away, but not before he looked at the communicator device he was now holding. A large smile once again appeared on his face.

He would be able to remain contact with Irene, and that made him really happy.

 **There we go, chapter done. So what did you all think? Good? Bad? Want me to shoot myself? Let me know.**

 **See you all next time, whenever that will be.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi. Hello. It's me again. Coming at you with another chapter for you all to either enjoy or despise with all of your hate. So sit back, retake Constantinople and enjoy.**

 **Or not.**

 **I don't care you all have your opinions.**

 **Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

 **Chapter Three: The impossible**

A smiling Natsu was seen finally getting out of the nightmare that was the train, at least in his opinion. The pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer was stilling a rather happy mood as he looked at the communicating Lacrima in his hands. The Fairy Tail Wizard couldn't help it; he had a way to communicate with Irene again. And that made him happy.

As he made his way back to his own house before he headed to the guild, Natsu couldn't help but wonder what Irene was doing right now.

 _'Maybe I should go ahead and call her!'_ Natsu thought to himself as he made his way though the city and into the surrounding forest where his and Happy's house was located. However he then realized something, _'Wait, wouldn't that be too soon though? If I call her now, she might think I'm some crazy stalker or something!' What if she's not in a mood to talk right now? What if she's busy? What if-?'_

Natsu couldn't help but let out a loud groan from his predicament.

"Gah! This is so complicated!" He shouted out loud. Since he was now in the surrounding forest, he didn't have to worry about anyone hearing him screaming like a lunatic. The pink haired male couldn't help but sigh afterwards as he hanged his head. He had never felt or thought about things like this before, so he didn't really know what to do about it.

Shaking his head from those thoughts for the time being, he then arrived at his and Happy's house. Seeing the place he called home, he couldn't help but smile at the sight before him. The Fire Dragon Slayer then headed to the door and proceeded to enter the building.

"Ah… home sweet ho-." Natsu started to say as he closed the door behind him…

…Only to see the rather messy condition the house as in.

Trash was everywhere, the place smelled horrible, and all of that nonsense. Usually, Natsu would have not cared since he and Happy didn't see the problem with this. They ate, they slept, and then they go to the guild. Yet, seeing this now…

 _'I can't stand messy places.'_ Irene's voice ringed in his head, remembering her words back when they ate at the restaurant. That got him to be depressed for some reason. Sure, the red haired woman wasn't referring to him, since she didn't know how he lived and all of that. But it still stung. What if she ever saw this place herself?

That last thought got Natsu's eyes to widen in horror.

"No! I don't want her to think I'm some disgusting pig who lives in trash!" Natsu exclaimed in fear as he grabbed his hair with his hands in a frightened manner.

The mere thought of Irene seeing his home looking like a dump got him to freak out. He didn't know why he would care, but letting the woman finding out he basically lived in a garbage heap was the last thing he wants to happen!

And so, with a deep breath, Natsu was going to do something that was believe to only exist in myths and legends. He was about to something that was believed that it would signal the end of the world. He was about to do something that would even shock the mightiest and bravest of Mages and Warriors.

Natsu Dragneel… was going to clean his house.

'A FEW HOURS LATER'

An exhausted Natsu collapsed on the ground as he finally finished his goal; cleaning supplies were right next to him. Since he didn't have any of those kinds of items, like at all, he had to go back into Magnolia and buy a crap ton of them as well as trash bags and all the like.

But yet, he was feeling pretty accomplished about himself.

With an exhausted yet satisfied smile, he looked around at his now completely cleaned home. The floor was now actually visible! The way the ground sparkled now thanks to his content scrubbing the floors not to mention the walls as well was truly a wonderful sight to behold. The kitchen and restroom was also cleaned greatly, and the smell of the place was actually wonderful like… whatever things that smelled nice. Heck, he even founded a chair that he and Happy thought they lost years ago due to the constant trash that covered everything!

Natsu was tired out from all the cleaning, yet he couldn't help but feel proud of himself as a cheeky smile appeared on his face. He should do this more often! The Fairy Tail Wizard liked this accomplished feeling he had. Natsu bet Irene would like to see this place now!

"Alright! …Now I'm tired." Natsu stated as he let out a yawn. Maybe taking a quick nap would do him good before he headed to the guild. Yeah that sounded nice.

As he went to put his cleaning supplies away, in his now nice and clean kitchen might he like to add, he then heard the door to his home opened. Not even a second later did the Fire Dragon Slayer then hear his little Exceed buddy.

"OH NO WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!" Happy's voice was heard shouting through the nice and clean now.

Natsu couldn't help but sweat drop when he heard that. Getting back up, he then walked out of the kitchen and to where his little buddy was at. The blue Exceed was spotted as he was flying around the main room in a hysterical manner.

"Happy calm down!" Natsu exclaimed loud enough for his little buddy to hear him.

This seemed to work as the flying blue Exceed stopped flying in circles and saw the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer.

"NATSU YOU'RE BACK! THANK GOODNESS! WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!" Happy once more shouted out loud in a frantic manner, as if he found out someone just stole his fish right from under his nose. Hearing him say that Natsu couldn't help but let out a chuckle for a moment before the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer went on to speak.

"Happy don't worry. It's okay. We weren't rob or anything." Natsu tried to calm the frantic Exceed down. However Happy didn't seem to be listening as the flying cat then took off and circled the main room they were in once more.

"OF COURSE WE WERE ROBBED! ALL OF OUR STUFF IS GONE! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO D- wait I thought we lost that chair years ago?" Happy stopped his frantic shouting as he a puzzled look appeared on the blue Exceed face as he saw the piece of furniture that he and Natsu swore they lost years ago.

That got Natsu to laugh out loud, getting the confused Happy to look back at his foster father. To the Exceed, Natsu was sure not making a big deal out of the fact that lot of their stuff was stolen.

"It's alright Happy. All of that was just trash that needed to be thrown away." Natsu told him.

Happy had a puzzled expression on his face once more, before the blue Exceed questioned the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer once more.

"But… if that was all just trash… who threw it all away?" Happy asked.

This got Natsu to be annoyed.

"What do you mean by that? I did! I cleaned the whole house; all by myself might I like to add." The pink haired young man stated to his Exceed partner with a big smile on his face, still feeling pretty good and proud of himself.

Happy merely stared at him with a blank expression, not making a peep or anything. It was a full blown minute had passed before the cat reacted to what he just heard.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Happy shouted before the cat bolted flying out the house.

Natsu was flat out confused by the blue Exceed's reaction as the pink haired male tiled his head in confusion.

"Where's he going?" Natsu wondered. And why did Happy screamed like he heard something traumatizing?

Another yawn managed to escape the pink haired male's mouth, before figuring that he would ask and go after Happy later. Right now, he was tired. All of that cleaning did a number on him.

And with that, the Fire Dragon Slayer then fell on the couch the main room, crashing face first before slumber took hold of him.

'AT FAIRY TAIL'

It was a normal day for the usual crazy guild of Fairy Tail. Some of them were drinking, some of them were chatting, and some of them were trying to bash each other's head in because they felt like it.

At the bar, a recently returned Erza was seen eating on her usual strawberry cheesecake with a content expression on her face. Lucy was talking to Mira and Lisanna who were working behind the bar. Gray was spotted eating his meal next to both the blonde and red head, not caring much about whatever the others were talking about. Wendy was seen on a nearby table, who was happily chatting with Romeo surprisingly as Carla was keeping an eye on the blue haired girl.

All in all, it was normal day for them all.

…Until Happy came bursting through the doors of the guild hall, screaming at the top of his lungs as he flew around the entire building. This naturally got everyone to stop whatever they were doing, as some of them like the other Dragons Slayers had to cover their ears due to how loud Happy was being.

"WRITE YOUR WILLS! CALL YOUR FAMILIES! THE END IS UPON US!" Happy kept on screaming similar things as he continued to fly around in a frantic manner, as everyone in the building tried to understand what the heck the flying blue Exceed was going on about.

"Happy!" Mira called out, trying to get the flying cat's attention, which didn't work as the cat kept at it with his screaming.

"HAPPY!" Erza's voice then boomed across the guild hall, not really happy that her somewhat peaceful time eating her cheesecake was loudly interrupted.

This seemed to do the trick as the flying cat ceased his shouting and stop flying all over the place as he looked at the annoyed red head.

Before anyone else could say anything, Happy then bolted right into Lisanna's arms as the blue cat then spoke up again.

"Lisanna! The end is coming!" Happy cried out as the white haired woman tried to calm down the cat, wondering what had got him to be acting like this. He acted like as if he encounter the Devil himself or something.

"Happy, what are you talking about?" Gray questioned the cat, having no idea what the blue Exceed was freaking about. Knowing the cat, it was probably something trivial that was being blown out of proportions.

"It's Natsu!" Happy started to say, which got some of the Fairy Tail Wizards concern for a moment, wondering if something terrible had happened to their fire breathing resident Mage, "He… he…"

"Happy! Deep breaths." Lisanna told the cat, trying to help him calm down with whatever he thought was terrifying. Seeing him do just that, the youngest Strauss sibling then spoke up one more in confusion, "What's wrong? What about Natsu?"

Happy looked back up at her before he flew into the air before shouting out once more for the whole guild to hear.

"NATSU CLEANED HIS HOUSE!" Happy screamed out with wide eyes.

Now, if one would be hearing this, they would no doubt think it was a silly thing to be getting this frantic about something so silly. Most people would think so honestly.

However Fairy Tail wasn't like most people, and they knew Natsu better than most people as well. So when they heard those words come out of the flying blue cat's mouth…

Silent dominated the guild hall, before everyone shouted out in shock at once,

"WHAT?!"

 **Ta-da! Chapter done! So what did you all think? Good? Bad? Want me to unleash a plague upon Canada? Let me know.**

 **See you all next time, whenever that will be.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yes I know it's been more than a month since I last updated this story, I apologize. But have no fear, for another chapter is here for you all to enjoy.**

 **Maybe.**

 **No promises.**

 **Anyway, enjoy, or not, I don't care you all have your opinions.**

 **Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

 **Chapter Four: The guild's shock**

Black colored eyes opened once more as Natsu slowly awakened from his nice little slumber. Sitting up from his little nap, the Fire Dragon Slayer let out a yawn as he rubbed the tiredness in his eyes.

"How long did I sleep?" Natsu questioned, as he looked around his house, a very nice and clean house he would like to add.

He couldn't have slept for that long, since it didn't feel like it was a long time had happened. Then again, it wasn't like the pink haired male was able to tell the time while he was in dream land. That would be cool though.

Getting up from the couth, but not before he stretched his arms over his head as he let out another yawn, he looked at a nearby window to still see the sunlight emerging from outside, telling him that it was still sometime in the day. Thus, he probably didn't sleep for that long.

"Eh, whatever," Natsu spoke as he got up and stretched his legs for a moment before gaining a large smile on his face, "Well, time to head to the guild!"

And with that, the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer then proceeded to emerge from his nice and clean home and on his way to the Fairy Tail guild.

'A FEW MINUTES LATER'

Natsu smiled widely when he stood in front of the building that was his guild and home. He wondered what he should do today. Since he already did a job not that long ago, he wasn't in the mood to do another one for the time being. Maybe he would punch Ice Stripper in the face, which seems like something fun to do. Or maybe he would punch Metal Face in the face, which also seemed tempting to do. Or maybe punch them both in the face?

A loud growl then emerged from the pink haired male's stomach, getting him to laugh a little from the noise his stomach just made.

"I guess I should get something to eat." Natsu muttered to himself with a smile on his face. It has been a while since he did have something to eat.

Besides, after cleaning his house, he felt like he deserved a nice relaxing meal to enjoy.

And then he would punch Gray and Gajeel in the face afterwards.

Laughing with that thought in mind, the Fire Dragon Slayer then did what he usually does when he enters the guild hall. And that's kicking the doors wide opened before announcing his return like always.

"I'M BACK!" Natsu exclaimed happily with his smile still plastered on his face.

However, that faded into confusion when he saw everyone, instead of doing their own things like they usually would do, were all around the bar closed up one another for some reason. From what his enhance hearing was able t pick up, they seemed to be muttering to one another about something. But he was unable to pick up what exactly they were talking about.

Seeing that they didn't hear him, and as he was curious as to what everyone was doing, he proceeded to walk over to the large group of Wizards to see what the fuss was about.

Approaching behind Erza, the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer tapped her shoulder, in hopes of getting the S-Class Mage's attention.

"Uh… Erza? What's everyone doing?" Natsu asked her, hoping that she would turn around to answer him.

"Hang on Natsu, we're busy talking about Natsu." Erza replied back to him without even looking behind her.

And that was when she as well as everyone else then was fully aware of the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer's presence in the building.

"GAH!" Everyone shouted as they jumped up before they all turned to see the pink haired male, who had to cover his ears due to how loud they were all being.

"Natsu?! When did you show up?!" Lucy questioned rather loudly might Natsu like to add, as he was completely confused by how everyone was acting and how they were all looking at him like he just blew up a town. Again.

"I literally just showed up. You all didn't seem to hear me for some reason," Natsu told them, before he went on to voice more of his thoughts to them, "And why are you all talking about me?" He questioned them, wondering why they were talking about him like this.

If they thought he did something again, he figured it was probably Gray's fault.

"Natsu!" Mira then rushed forward toward him, before putting her hand on his forehead, before checking all over as if she was making sure nothing was amiss with the Fire Dragon Slayer, "Are you feeling alright? Do you have a fever? Are you feeling odd by chance?"

Natsu was flat out confused. What was Mira doing? And what was she talking about?

"I'm fine Mira," Natsu assured the frantic white haired woman, grabbing her hands before lowering it from his head and body, "Why is everyone freaking out about me so much?"

"Natsu, is it true?" Makarov, who was sitting at the bar with a mug in hand, spoke to the puzzled pink haired male.

"What is true?" Natsu responded, not getting what the old man was going at.

"Natsu," The Fire Dragon Slayer's attention was turned to Lisanna, who had a look of concern on her face, "Is it true that you actually cleaned your home?"

Natsu merely stood there was gears were turning in his head. His mind was processing what he heard from the white haired woman.

And then a large tick mark appeared on the pink haired male's face.

"THAT'S WHY YOU ALL ARE ACTING SO WEIRD ABOUT ME?!" Natsu shouted, completely annoyed and ticked off by them acting like this simply because he cleaned his house. Sure, he may not be the brightest out of them all, but he wasn't a complete idiot dang it!

"YOU MEAN IT'S TRUE?!" Everyone shouted in horror from the confirmation from the Fire Dragon Slayer, as some of then, like Macao, Wakaba, and even Makarov fainted from hearing those words coming out of Natsu's mouth.

Seeing this only annoyed the pink haired young man even more.

"What's with all of those reactions?! People clean their homes all the time!" Natsu exclaimed back at them, his tick mark still on his forehead.

"But you're not like other people Flamebrain!" Gray stated to his fire breathing rival, who turned his head to glare at the Ice Maker Mage, "You would never clean your home! Ever!"

"At least I don't strip!" Natsu exclaimed back at the dark blue haired male, who looked down to see that he was only in his boxers.

"When did that happened?!" Gray shouted with shock and confusion.

Natsu meanwhile was feeling annoyed that everyone was thinking so low of him like he was a disgusting slob. He wasn't dang it! What was wrong to clean his home so Irene wouldn't have to be disgusted if she ever came over here?

A metallic hand was out on his shoulders when he looked to see Erza standing there staring directly at him, which was honestly a bit unnerving to the pink haired male to tell the truth.

"…You really did clean your home Natsu?" Erza asked him once more, as Natsu sighed in annoyance before he replied back to her.

"Yes, I did. Did it all by myself." The Fire Dragon Slayer answered her with a smile, remembering the feeling of accomplishment when he finished cleaning his house.

Erza merely stared at him for another moment, before she smiled at him as she patted him on the back.

"I'm proud of you Natsu. While I may not know where your sudden urge to clean your house came from, I'm still proud of you." The red haired woman told him, her smile still present on her face.

"Uh… thanks Erza, I guess." Natsu thanked the red head, even though he was a bit confused as to why the woman was feeling proud of him. Did she think that this was a result from her lessons all those years ago? Remembering that got him to shiver slightly.

"Erza! You were the one most freaking out about this!" Warren stated to the red head, as he and everyone else remembered seeing how she was freaking out about the fact that Natsu actually cleaned the dump he called a home.

This got Erza to glare at him, who immediately went into denial about saying his words, taking them back in order to avoid the red haired woman's wrath. Those who saw this merely sweat dropped from the sight.

"Uh… anyway," Natsu started to say, as he turned to look at Mira with a smile, "Can I get something to eat? I'm pretty hungry." He requested from the white haired barmaid, and to prove his point his stomach growled right after his words.

Mira, a bit calmed down from the revelation that Natsu did indeed clean his house, smiled back at him.

"Oh course Natsu." She told him, before she then went back behind the bar to do just that.

Everyone else, seeing that the subject was dropped for the time being, the guild then started to head back to their respective tables or positions at the bar. A few like Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe, as well as Wendy and Romeo, tried to wake those who fainted back up, like Makarov, Macao, and Wakaba for example.

Natsu, relieved that everyone wasn't going to bother him about the fact that he cleaned his house, which apparently the guild thought he was incapable of doing for some reason, before he went to sit down at the bar with a smile plastered on his face once more. And with that, he waited for Mira to finished making his meal.

"Hey Natsu," Turning his head, he saw Lucy who sat next to him with a puzzled expression visible on her face, "Why did you suddenly decide to clean your house? It couldn't have come out of nowhere right?" She asked. To her, it seemed odd that the pink haired male who usually didn't care about what state his house was in would suddenly just decide to clean it on a whim.

The Fire Dragon Slayer was about to answer, before realizing what telling her would mean. He would be telling about his encounter with Irene. Granted, he didn't see a problem with telling everyone about his meeting and new friendship with the older red haired woman he met, and thus was originally going to do that.

However, seeing how everyone reacted from him simply cleaning his house, he felt like he would only get more ridiculed if he decided to tell them about Irene.

And so, he wasn't going too. Meeting and staying in touch with Irene was going to be his little secret.

"I just felt like it." Natsu told the blonde Celestial Mage, who only looked at him with a deadpanned stare.

"…Seriously? Because you felt like it?" Lucy asked him once more, finding a hard time believing what she was just told.

"Yup." Was all Natsu replied back to her with.

Lucy merely sighed, seeing how there was no other way that they were any other reason for what he did. Besides, this was Natsu they were talking about. It was really doubtful that he had some mayor reason for cleaning his home.

With that out of the way, Mira then approached the pink haired male with a plate of flaming meat in hand.

"Here you go Natsu." Mira told him with her ever present smile, to which got Natsu to smile back at her.

"Thanks Mira!" The Fire Dragon Slayer thanked the woman.

And with that, he proceeded to dig into his meal.

 **There we go, chapter done. So what did you all think? Good? Bad? Want me to burn down the rain forest? Let me know.**

 **See you all next time, whenever that will be.**


	5. Chapter 5

… **Man I am not good at keeping regular updates on this story aren't I?**

 **But hey, I'm back with another chapter for you all to judge to see if it is enjoyable or if it sucks and I should commit seppuku. Whatever you think is fine.**

 **Anyway, enjoy, or not, I don't care you all have your opinions.**

 **Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

 **Chapter Five: First Lacrima Talk**

Night has descended upon the nation of Fiore, with many folks of the country already heading to bed. Though some of the nation's inhabitants continue to stay up for whatever personal reason they may be. For some, they stay up as guards to protect those who sleep, for others, they wish to do harm to those without being caught. Others stay up due to still hanging out. It all depends on the kind of person.

Irene was one of these people who were still awake, as the red head Spriggan of Alvarez was still awake in her hotel room she managed to stay at for the night. The woman finished up cleaning herself up in the shower as he returned to her bedroom, covered in her white robe that still showed off her impressive body.

The room she was staying for the night wasn't anything too spectacular. The bedroom had red color paint on its wall, giving the room a crimson look. The bed was queen size with a fancy decorative look on it, and two doors were present in the room with one of the leading to the bathroom the woman just emerged from and the other to the rest of the hotel room she took for the night. A dresser was next to the bed, holding the few things the woman had on her during her vacation here in Fiore, one of the items was her own communicating lacrima to remain contact with either the other Spriggans or her Emperor, or a certain pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer.

The last mentioned person was currently on the woman's mind, as she sat down on the edges of the bed with a thoughtful expression her face, as her hand cupped her chin as she continued to think to herself.

 _'It has been practically a whole day since we talked, maybe I should call him,'_ Irene thought to herself, before she thought of doubts about this idea, _'It may be to soon though. He could already be out on another job for all I know. Or Natsu may just be busy in general. Or maybe he's already sleep, since it is pretty late already. Or maybe he-.'_

The red haired woman had to shake her head from these thoughts, as she sighed from how stupid she was acting.

"*Sigh* I can't believe I'm acting like a little school girl like this…" Irene trailed off as she lay back onto her bed, looking straight up at the ceiling with her expression still in a thoughtful one.

Why is she acting like this? She was Irene Belserion, a fully grown woman over four hundred years old and the strongest woman in all of Alvarez. She never acted or thought like this before for anyone, not to her fellow Spriggans, not to her Emperor, and not even to her last love. That last though got her to frown in sadness, remembering how he turned on her and tried to kill their unborn child, before she fully became a dragon.

…She couldn't help but wonder… is her child still out there? Is her daughter still alive? Is she living a happy life? Could their ever been a chance that she didn't give her up and managed to raised her without putting her child in danger from herself?

Her thoughts were snapped out of this as Irene then heard the communication lacrima started to glow and buzz a little, getting the red head woman to fit straight up with quick speed. Irene's eyes moved over to the buzzing lacrima, before reaching over to grab it into her hold.

Answering it, she put it up to her right ear as she spoke.

"Hello?" She questioned, not really looking at who it was that called her. She would be surprise in all honesty when she heard who it was talking on the other side.

 _"Hey Irene! It's me, Natsu!"_ The Fire Dragon Slayer's voice came out of the communicating lacrima. Widening her eyes in surprise for a moment, she then gained a small smile on her face as she then went on to reply.

"Natsu, now this is a surprise to hear from you already. And at this time of night as well." Irene admitted, even though she was just contemplating on whenever or not to call him at this time of night also.

 _"I wanted to talk to you again… unless your busy,"_ Irene could hear him acting nervous all of a sudden, _"You're not busy are you? Unless you are, then I'm sorry that I called already! Ugh… man I'm not good at this…"_ Irene could hear him mutter that last part, getting her to giggle a little from hearing him act this way. Even over the lacrima device he was acting so adorable.

Her little laugh got the pink haired male on the other end of the communicating lacrima attention, as he waited to see what she was laughing about. Irene ceased her giggling as she then spoke up once more with a smile on her face.

"No Natsu, I'm not busy, you're alright with calling me. Though hearing you all nervous about that is endearing and cute." Irene admitted. She had to hold back yet another giggle when she could hear him freaking out and making embarrassed noises from her words.

 _"Uh… anyway,"_ Natsu tried to change the subject on him being nervous and embarrassed from her words, _"Are you still in Fiore?"_ He asked her with genuine curiosity. Seeing no reason to not answer this question of his, Irene went to do just that.

"Yes, I am. I have rented a room in a hotel for the night. I'm assuming your back at your own home I take it?" She asked him, as a laugh emerged from the other end of the communicating lacrima.

 _"Yup! Most of my guild went home to sleep, so I was planning to do that too. But I wanted to talk to you again before I did."_ Irene could hear his voice getting quieter when he said that last sentence, clearly feeling embarrassed about saying it even if the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer himself didn't know why he would feel that way. This got Irene to smile even more, some reason feeling a sense of joy from hearing how he wanted to talk to her again.

"I see," The red head stated, before she went on before Natsu could say anything else, "I was actually planning on calling you as well Natsu, I like to talk to you too after all." Granted, she was debating on talking and calling him, but he didn't need to know that.

 _"Really? Wow, what a coincidence I called then! …That's the right word to use right? Coincidence?"_ The Fire Dragon Slayer asked to make sure, getting Irene to hold back yet another giggle, seeing how the Dragon Slayer wasn't someone who tends to use large words like that.

"You're right Natsu, don't worry." Irene replied, hearing him sigh in relief on the other end.

And before they knew it, the two simply started to chat whatever came to mind. Irene asked Natsu how the rest of his day went, and Natsu asked Irene how the rest of her day went. Natsu told her about him cleaning his house, saying it was a little messy… even though in truth it was WAY worse, but Irene didn't need to know that. Irene informed the pink haired male on the other end of the communicating lacrima about how she flown to see some of the nation's mountains, finding the sight to be quiet endearing and wonderful to see. And the two kept on talking to one another with whatever came to mind, enjoying hearing the other's voice.

Eventually though, due to how late it was getting, it was clear that they had to end their little talk no matter how much they wanted to keep going to hear the other's voice.

Noticing this, Natsu then started to say something as Irene listened closely.

 _"Hey Irene…,"_ Natsu started to say, as he started to sound a bit nervous once more, getting Irene curious as to what he wanted to ask, _"You were still be in Fiore tomorrow right?"_

"Yes I will be. Why do you ask?" Irene questioned, though she had a feeling that the pink haired male may wanted to meet up with her again or something.

 _"Well… I was wondering…,"_ Natsu could be heard stuttering on the other side of the communicating lacrima, confusing Irene as to what Natsu wanted to say that would make him so nervous. A deep breath could be heard from him before he went on to say what he wanted to say, _"Would you like to have a picnic with me tomorrow?!"_ He questioned rather loudly, but luckily not loud enough to wake up a certain blue Exceed that was asleep in the other room of his house.

The request though got Irene to widen her eyes in surprise, as she didn't think he would be bold as to request something like that. However, a small teasing smile appeared on her face as she spoke once again.

"Oh… asking me out on a date are you?" Irene asked with her teasing grin on her face, as she couldn't help but giggle when she once more heard him frantically being nervous and embarrassed. Man, Natsu was so adorable when he was teased like this.

 _"That's not-! I just wanted-! I mean-!"_ Natsu could be heard trying to say something without stuttering or feeling embarrassed. Feeling like she made him suffer enough, Irene then ceased her giggling before she gave him an answer.

"Sure Natsu, I would love to." The red haired woman answered him with a soft smile on her lips. She knew that she would be unable to taste anything, but if it mean spending more time with the pink haired male, then she wouldn't mind at all.

 _"Really?!"_ Natsu was heard exclaiming with joy from her answer, before the woman heard him calming himself down as to not seem to excited, which was just cute to her in her opinion, _"I mean, great! I know a good place we can eat at outside Magnolia! Do you know where that is?"_

"Yes Natsu, I know where the city is at." Irene answered him once more, as she had a map on her to help her check out the places Fiore had to offer.

 _"Great! Don't worry Irene, I'll make this a ton of fun for you. I'll even make the food!"_ Natsu exclaimed, surprising Irene a little from hearing this.

"You can cook?" The red head Spriggan questioned, as she honestly didn't expect the pink haired male to know how to do that to tell the truth. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but still.

 _"Yup! I have to go now, feeling tired. Sleep well Irene! See you tomorrow!"_ Natsu told her with a grin, even though there were a whole nation apart for this to be even seen.

Irene smiled as she spoke back.

"See you tomorrow too Natsu, have pleasant dreams." Irene replied back to him through the communicating lacrima.

With that, the connection was cut off, leaving the woman alone in silence.

Irene couldn't help but smile once more, as she then put the lacrima back on the dresser next to the bed, before she lay back on the bed with her smile still on her face.

She had a good feeling that tomorrow would be a good day.

'WITH NATSU'

Natsu looked at the communicating lacrima with a smile on his face, as he put it back into his pocket.

His smile didn't leave his face as he went to check to make sure Happy was still asleep in their room. And truth be told, the blue Exceed was curled up in a ball on his own little bed, sleeping soundly, and most likely dreaming about fish, or Carla, or both.

Seeing this, the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer then headed out of his house, his very clean his he would like to add, before stepping outside to feel the nice cool breeze, shutting the door right behind him.

Still smiling, Natsu then took a few extra steps away from his house with him looking all happy…

And then he screamed.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!" Natsu continued to shout before he frantically started to run around the house and the land around his home like a headless chicken. If anyone saw him, they would think he looked like a complete idiot.

Natsu ran around his house and his land that was his property before he stopped running before moving his hand all over his hair in a frantic manner as he stopped screaming.

"Why the f**k did I say I would make the food like that?! Gosh I'm such an idiot!" Natsu shouted out loud as he still was freaking out.

He can't cook for sh*t! Sure he can grab a piece of meat and roast it over a fire, but other than that he can't cook anything like at all! Heck, he would even admit about Gray being better at something than he would ever be able to cook something, and Hell itself would have to freeze over before the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer would ever admit his Ice Magic using rival being better at him at anything! He was so screwed tomorrow!

Natsu then stopped and slapped himself for a moment, forcing him to stop and take in a deep breath as he though on what to do. He took another deep breath before he started to speak once more to ease himself.

"No… I refuse to mess up tomorrow. I refuse to mess up in front of Irene." Natsu muttered to himself.

The pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer knew he could just but something and say that he made it, or get someone else to make him the lunch for tomorrow and pass it off as his own work, but the idea of lying like that to Irene made him feel absolutely awful. The idea of trying to lie to her like that… Natsu would rather die than even think about doing that!

And so, with a determined look on his face, he knew what he would have to do tomorrow before his lunch with Irene.

Natsu Dragneel… was going to learn how to cook.

May God help him.

 **There we go, chapter done. So what did you all think? Good? Bad? Want me to shatter the EU into pieces? Let me know.**

 **See you all next time, whenever that will be.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Have another chapter for you all because why not?**

 **Enjoy, or not, I don't care you all have your opinions.**

 **Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

 **Chapter Six: The Ways of the Cook**

It was early in the morning for the city of Magnolia, with many of the residents still in bed. The sun was just barely coming up over the horizon, with light starting to shine upon the land. Due to the early time, only a few of the city's denizens were awake and getting ready for the day.

Mirajane Strauss was one of these few individuals, already up and running as she made her way to the center of the city, where the guild hall of Fairy Tail was located. She had to open the hall up for everyone else to show up later on, and to get ready for when people come to request for food, drinks, and the like.

"Ah… what a nice relaxing morning we have." Mira smiled with happiness as she felt the rising sun's rays shine on her as she continued to walk to her destination.

Yesterday had been a rather unusual day for them all. Sure, one would think it was normal, but after learning about how Natsu willingly cleaned his house for apparent no reason, the Mages of the number one guild couldn't help but go in shock. Mira herself was one of them, thinking the pink haired male wasn't just feeling well or have had a fever. But alas, Natsu did what he did because he simply felt like it. Nevertheless, the white haired woman couldn't' help but feel proud that Natsu seemed to be learning the values of a clean home, even if it was surprising for them all.

Pushing these thoughts to the side for the time being, the white haired barmaid arrived at the guild hall, as she started to pull out keys to open the building up for all who wish to enter.

Or at least that was the plan, before the Take-Over Mage then noticed the guild doors were already unlocked.

"Huh?" Mira muttered to herself in confusion. That was weird, why was the doors to the guild unlock already? Did Makarov already show up? It was rare, but occasionally the small old Guild Master of Fairy Tail would show up first before anyone else, mainly to go over any paperwork in his office so he would be able to drink later in peace and not worry about all of that.

Shrugging to herself, thinking it was just Makarov who showed up earlier before she did, merely then opened the doors as she entered into the guild hall.

As she would expect, not a single soul was spotted, with all the furniture in their spots with the chairs closed to the tables. And if she guessed right, then Makarov was probably in his office going over paperwork, since he was most likely the one who showed up earlier.

Mira then closed in to the bar… only to stop as she then started to smell something unusual.

"What is that?" Mira wondered, as she took another sniff into the air, before her puzzlement grew, "Is that… smoke?"

Indeed, it smelled like something was burning, which alarmed the woman slightly. As she took another sniff, her head turned to the direction where the entrance to the kitchen was located behind the bar, smelling that it was coming from there.

Worried, Mira then started to make her way pass the bar and into the kitchen entrance, hoping that whatever it was wasn't anything to serious. When she passed through the entrance to the kitchen, she didn't know what to expect.

What she DEFINITELY wasn't expecting was a frantic Natsu yelling loudly as the oven top seemed to be on fire. There was flour and other ingredients all over the kitchen counters and floor. All in all, it was a complete chaotic mess.

Needless to say, Mira reacted as any reasonable person would do at the sight before them.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" The barmaid of the guild shouted in shock with wide comical eyes.

This seemed to get Natsu's attention, if the sudden jump from hearing Mira's voice was any indication.

"MIRA! THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE HERE! EVERYTHING'S ON FIRE!" Natsu shouted out loud in a frantic and dramatic manner, as he contained to run around like a headless chicken.

'A FEW MINUTES LATER'

Thankfully, the fires were put out thanks to Mira and a nearby fire extinguisher, since Natsu made the flames, he couldn't just eat them up like he would normally would. The counters and floor were still a complete mess, as Natsu had his head down in both embarrassment and in shame. And from the looks on things from the oven top, the charred remains of what MIGHT have been pancakes were there, Mira wasn't exactly sure what the charred coal was originally supposed to be.

Pushing that to the side, Mira then looked back at the embarrassed and shameful Natsu as he avoided looking at the white haired woman, who was both confused and somewhat annoyed from seeing the kitchen in this state.

"Natsu," Mira started to say, as she looked at Natsu in hopes of getting answers. At least she now knew who it was that was in the guild hall before she did, "Are you going to explain to me why you set the kitchen on fire and made a mess in it?"

Natsu, still feeling embarrassed from his mess up reluctantly looked back up at Mira to not make the white haired woman angry, before the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer then went on to speak to her.

"Well… I was uh…" Natsu trailed off as his voice became to quiet for Mira to hear, who blinked in confusion from seeing him go quiet.

"Say that again?" Mira requested from him, wanting to hear what he tried to say. Taking another breath, Natsu did just that.

"I was… uh… trying… to… cook something…" Natsu finished as a embarrassed blush appeared on his face. He knew cooking would be hard, but he didn't expect to be this bad at it.

The moment those words left his mouth, Mira's eyes once again widened in a shock and comical manner. Did she hear that right? Natsu, of all people, was trying to cook something?

"…Eh?" Mira responded, too surprised and shocked to say anything more than that at the moment.

Figuring he would explain a bit further, Natsu went on to speak once more.

"Well… I was trying to cook, pancakes more specifically," Natsu informed her, before his eyes turned to the charred remains of it on the oven top, "Or, at least I tried too." His voice was filled with disappointment with himself as a depressed look appeared on his face.

Seeing and hearing his sadness got Mira to snap out of her shock for a minute, seeing how depressed he seemed from screwing up something as making pancakes.

"…But why?" Mira questioned all of a sudden, getting Natsu to look back at the white haired woman with confusion on his face, "You never tried to cook anything before, so why try now?" That was something that confused Mira. Natsu would normally be content with roasting meat over a fire and be done with it. The normally energetic pink haired male had never tried to cook anything in his life, so why the sudden change?

"Oh, well…," Natsu tried to find the right words to use, not wanting to tell the white haired barmaid about Irene and his plan for lunch with her, "I just wanted to see if I could. Since I keep seeing how you and Kinana were great at making food, I wanted to see if I could do the same." It wasn't a complete lie, he had wondered how the two women were able to make food so delicious, his plan to have lunch with Irene just helped him motivate him too actually try it.

But he clearly failed if the fires, the big mess, and the charred coal remains of pancakes were any indication.

Mirajane was completely surprised by this. First Natsu cleaned his home for no apparent reason other than him just feeling like doing it, and now the Fire Dragon Slayer was trying to learn how to cook too? What was up with him?

Putting those questions aside, the white haired woman would figure out how Natsu managed to mess this up, since seeing how sad he was from screwing it up, she couldn't help but want to help him out.

"I see, but Natsu," She started to ask him, "Did you managed to follow the recipe?"

"Of course I did! Well… sort of." Natsu admitted.

Mira blinked in puzzlement.

"What do you mean sort of?" She asked him, wanting him to explain further.

"Well, I just really glimpsed it more than anything; I had all the stuff out, so I didn't see to read it anymore." Natsu admitted again, since he had all the ingredients, he didn't see a reason to look back at the recipe once more.

Mira felt her cooking senses break a little from hearing that.

"Did… you at least looked at the measurements for each ingredient?" Mira questioned, hoping he at least got that part right.

Natsu smiled nervously as she asked that, putting a hand behind his head.

"Not really, I figured that the more you put in, the more food it would be right?" Natsu replied back to her, as he figured it wasn't that important. Besides, the more ingredients put in the more food that would be made right?

Mira felt like she was just told Christmas was canceled if the horrified expression she had was any indication from hearing his answer.

"What about the temperature on the top of the oven? Did you put it at a correct heat?" She asked him, though she had a feeling what the answer would be.

"I mean, the hotter the oven top, the quicker they cook right? I just put it all the way to high." Natsu once more informed her, feeling a bit confused from seeing her horrified expression.

Now, Mira prided herself as an excellent chef, a wonderful cook and baker. Ask anyone in the guild about her cooking skills, and they would all most likely agree that the white haired woman was probably one of the best chefs they know. Any meal one can think of, Mira can surely cook. Any dessert one can think of, Mira can surely bake. Mira has learned everything there is to know about the ways of cooking any kind of meal anyone could dream of.

So hearing all of these… travesties… that Natsu admitted to her, how he committed the acts that went against everything she knows about being a cook, the Take-Over Mage couldn't help but feel physical pain from hearing all of this. Mira had to hold herself back from clutching her chest from the pain of the pink haired male's words of what he did in a failed attempted to cook breakfast.

Seeing her still horrified expression like he was just struck with an arrow to the chest made Natsu even more confused, as he tiled his head.

"Uh Mira? Are you okay?" Natsu asked her, completely puzzled but her horrified expression.

It took only a moment before Mira snapped out of her shocked expression, before a determined look appeared on her face.

"Natsu, it's clear that you need an expert's help when it comes to this. So I will help you atone for these atrocities you have committed and teach you how to cook!" Mira told him dramatically.

Hearing this got Natsu's eyes to widen in shock.

"Really?" Natsu asked in a hopeful tone, though did Mira really had to call his attempt at making pancakes atrocities?

"Yes I am Natsu, it's clear that you wish to learn, and so I will teach you the ways of the cook!" Mira exclaimed in a dramatic manner, figuring that she might as well have a little bit of fun when doing this.

Natsu couldn't help but cry anime tears of joy as the fire Dragon Slayer started to bow to the woman, getting the barmaid to sweat drop a little from his act.

"Thank you Mira! I won't let you down!" The pink haired male exclaimed back at her, still bowing to her like an idiot.

"That's good to hear, but first thing's first, the kitchen must be cleaned! And as part of your atonement, you will do it yourself understood?" Mira asked him with a serious expression.

"AYE SIR!" Natsu once more shouted as he stood back up and saluted to her, not wanting to make her angry.

And with that, the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer didn't waste any time as he went on to clean the mess he made. Mira couldn't help but giggle slightly from seeing him act like it, it was funny.

 **There we go, chapter done. So what did you all think? Good? Bad? Let me know.**

 **See you all next time, whenever that will be.**


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